Changes Over Time
by redwall64
Summary: DISCONTINUED. : What is Naruto doing with the Akatsuki and Orochimaru ? Why the hell did Sasuke return, anyway? Sakura and friends want Naruto back. Is it a 'Get him back' thing all over again? SUB-Dark fic.. Review for update.
1. The Resolve

(Hides behind bench with kunai over my head) I know… I know… I probably shouldn't be writing another fanfic while my other fanfics are rotting, waiting for chapters… sigh…. I really just wanted to submit this fanfic as soon as I thought of it… Anyway, I promise to TRY to update as soon as I get reviews… I decided to make this chapter long to sum it all up for now… Anyway, please R & R!!!!

PS. Pairings will be decided through poll or reviews… Suggestions are welcome! And any type of feedback (negative, positive, suggestions, requests or flames) is welcome… Thanks!

Disclaimer: For those stinkin' lawyers who stinkin' sue people for not stinkin' putting stinkin' disclaimers, STINK YAH, you stinkies!!! Me no know any I own NOTHING (_slang, _**translation: **I don't own anything other than this laptop I'm typing on, which my parents gave me as a reward, this IPod I'm listening to and the plot of this fanfic I'm writing…) In short… I don't own Naruto..!

**Changes Over Time**

**Chapter 1: The Resolve**

"Kuso…" the sixteen year-old blond swore under his breath as the ball of blue chakra in his hand flew around, spreading out in different directions "Form, you damn Rasengan!!!"

He was trying his best to from the Rasengan with one hand, since Tsunade promised him a week of training if he was able to accomplish this in three days or less. He fell down onto the ground, sweating even more than the usual. He was breathing hardly, but he still forced himself to stand up, but only managed to sit up. "D-don't push yourself too hard, Na-Naruto-kun… You've been training for two… s-sleepless nights," a calm and soft voice of a female spoke from behind him.

(A/N: Guess who THAT is…! Sigh… Before I go on with the story, I guess I should explain the MAJOR changes I've done to the canon. First off, Sakura was needed in some medical missions in other villages, so she wasn't the one who was with Naruto in their missions… Hinata was chosen by Tsunade and Yamato to complete the temporary Team 7… Other than that, Sai and Naruto became closer to each other with Hinata controlling them, with Sai seeing her as a sister. PS. Sai met Sakura earlier in another village, so… You'll see later. Now back to the story!!!)

"Hinata…" Naruto turned around to see the long-haired kunoichi playing with her fingers. He calmed down and relaxed on the ground with his hands resting on his knee, the other leg bent with the other laying on the ground. "Do… do you think I'm worth this, Hinata?"

Hinata, suddenly getting out of her childish state, glared at him with confusion and curiousness in her expression then asked "Worth what, Naruto-kun?"

"Well… being this shinobi that can be trained by two of the strongest ninjas alive… And, at the same time, I'm a guy with a monster in me…" Naruto looked up to see Hinata staring back at him, without the usual remark of Hinata's blush. She just looked at him and, soon, smiled lightly "Naruto-kun…"

Naruto expected her to lecture him about the usual things, but Naruto beat her to it by immediately standing up and running to another tree "I know, Hinata, I know…" he paused for awhile then spoke up with his tone different this time, as if trying to change the topic "Hey, Hinata-san! Is there a way to sense people around you that… conceals themselves with their own Kekkai Genkai? People that… uses a bloodline limit that can surpass your own bloodline…"

"I honestly don't know, Naruto-kun… Why do you ask?"

"No reason, Hinata-san… I just… I just became curious," but Hinata wasn't satisfied with his reply. There was something beneath that weird question Naruto gave. He looked back at the tree and began to successfully form the Rasengan in his right hand. Hinata smiled at this and allowed a slight blush to appear on her face.

After a few more hours of practice, Naruto finally decided to call it a day. Before retiring into his apartment, he decided to take a nap in the training grounds after eating his beloved ramen!!!

"Naruto! Naruto-kun, she's here!" an excited voice awakened Naruto's spirit, causing him to immediately sit up, with Naruto barely noticing that it was already dark "What!? Where's the fire!?!?!"

Hinata was confused with Naruto's words, but she immediately shook it off "No! She—the--- and then—" she tried her best to mutter whatever she was attempting to say "Hinata! Calm down! What is it!?"

"See for… for yourself… in the… Hokage's tower… She—" but before she could finish, Naruto was already on his way to the tower.

(A/N: Sorry about the multiple skips, heheh… That'll be over soon enough… Back to the story!!!)

He kicked the door open to Tsunade's office, obviously ignoring the ANBU trying to stop him. As soon as he opened the door, he saw the Godaime, and noticed that she was not alone in the room. She was shocked to see Naruto. No… She was scared… There, on the chair in front of Tsunade's desk, was Kakashi and…

"Tsunade-baa-chan… Sakura—" he paused, as if suddenly realizing who he just saw "Sakura!? Sakura-chan!?" Naruto shouted in happiness, but Sakura's emotion was hard to tell. She was smiling, but obviously sarcastic. There was something else in her mind, and Naruto noticed this…

"Naruto, get—" Tsunade was clearly attempting to get him away, but Sakura cut her off "It's alright, Tsunade-sama… I… I want to talk to Naruto, anyways… May I?"

Tsunade hesitated at first, but nodded.

Sakura walked towards Naruto who smiled at her, which she returned sourly. She passed Naruto who followed closely until they reached the stairs heading to the terrace. As soon as they were up, she leaned onto the rails and waited for Naruto to approach her. Naruto, soon, walked towards her then finally spoke "Sakura-chan! I—"

As soon as he spoke, Sakura turned around with tears in her eyes. She… spanked him.

Naruto, his face now red, stared at Sakura in shock and wonder "Sa-Sakura-chan?"

"You… D-don't make promises that you… you can't fulfill… I---"

"Sakura… Sakura-chan..?"

"Naruto… I… I said…" she looked down, tears pouring down her face, clenching her fist "Stop with the stinking promises you make!!!"

Naruto's eyes began welling up with tears that slowly fell from his eyes. He looked at Sakura with his eyes red, not with Kyuubi, but with the tears.

"You promised to bring Sasuke-kun back… But… but… You had the chance to… to get him, but…" she paused, waiting for any reaction from Naruto. But, instead, all she got was a heavy pour of rainfall from the crying sky "You're still TOO weak to bring him back, huh, Naruto!? Or did you let your anger and jealousy get to you first than your promise!?!?!"

She was shouting now, with a mixed expression of anger and grief.

"Sakura…" he paused, realizing that he had dropped the –chan suffix, but continued "I… I tried…"

"SHUT UP, Naruto! I don't want to hear any more of your lies and crap! All I want is Sasuke, and you AWAY from me!" at this, she stormed off, leaving a stunned Naruto crying in the rain. He looked up to see a man in a black cloak with red clouds. His vision was getting blurry, but he ignored the thought that an Akatsuki member was in front of him and, instead, his last thoughts bothered him even in his sleep:

_Sasuke… That's all you guys want, then… I'll give him to… to you… I'll return the person important to the people I consider precious… to protect… you._

As everything in his mind slowly faded, before his vision soon blacked out, the man in front of him spoke, in a cold voice "Hn… I'll wake you up later, then…"

There! Chapter 1, finally done! 3 ¼ pages!! Yay! Please review for more updates to come sooner!!! Thank you!

Which pairings are good? (I'm not actually in favor to all the pairings here… so….)

NaruSaku

NaruHina

NaruIno

NaruTen

NaruHarem

SasuSaku

SasuIno

SasuTen

SakuOC

SakuKiba

HinaOC

KibaHina

KibaIno

ShinoTen

Shinohina

InoShika

ChouX?

ShikaTema

NejiTen

TenOC

LeeX? (tell me)

Oh, and tell me other pairings I missed… Hehe, thanks!


	2. Return of the Ravenhaired teme

Redwall-64: Hello, readers and non-reviewers! I decided to update to fill in for people who want more chapters and wasn't satisfied with my 'introduction'. I hope you like this, so please review for more updates to come… Thanks!

Oh, and, yeah… I almost forgot… This fanfic starts from the manga, chapter 389 wherein Sasuke and Itachi are currently fighting. Things got kind of… itchy, so I decided one thing: none of them dies.

Short summary:

Itachi's vision blurs out with Sasuke using an improved version of Chidori. Sasuke runs out of chakra, while Itachi is almost blind. This is where Zetsu comes in. He takes Itachi with him, then imprisons Sasuke for something related to Pein and Naruto. Hmm….?

Chapter 2

**Return of the Raven-haired teme**

[in a dark cavern

"Hey… Hey, blind-teme! He's awake!" the man this shark-like creature was referring to did not reply "Hey! Answer me, you bastard!"

"Shut up, Kisame! Who are you talking to anyway!?"

"Yeesh, you ARE blind! Who else is in this room that I call bastard? Well, unless you also didn't hear my bastard comment. Don't tell me you're deaf now, too!?" Itachi, the sharingan-wielder, turned around to see the blond sitting up beside Kisame.

"I see you've awakened. That sure took you long enough. So, how was your beauty sleep, then?" the blond smirked then answered "You need that more than I do… being the brother of Sasuke-teme…"

"Oh, just shut up, beast. You want that traitor back to your village, or what?" at this, Naruto looked up. He became interested all of a sudden.

"What's the hook, teme-tono (Lord of Bastards)?" Naruto's 'teme' comments on Itachi had Kisame rolling on the floor with laughter. Itachi just glared at him, silencing Kisame into soft laughs, without losing the irritating factor.

"We have a proposition to make… Kisame, if you may…"

"Why not, teme-tono…" he sarcastically said as he bowed towards Itachi.

"It's a long story, but, to start thing off… Someone… wants to meet you…"

[back in Konoha

Two days… That was all Sakura SAID she needed to be able to forgive Naruto. Guess not… For those two days, Sakura spent her days in the hospital, under Tsunade's supervision, still thinking about Sasuke. No one, other than the two teammates, knows anything that happened two days ago. Other than that, Sakura is also one of the people who don't know the 'real' Naruto, and everything that happened to him this past few months. And no one noticed Naruto's absence.

"Get out of the way! Move over!" Kakashi, the masked copy-nin shouted as he ran through the hospital hallways. This caught Sakura's attention, with her instincts telling her to follow… So does Inner Sakura **'Cha! What the hell is going on, that we don't know!?'**

Sakura followed until Kakashi came to a stop. He stood in place, probably noticing Sakura's presence. This was also what Sakura was sensing, she tensed. Soon, she realized that Kakashi was already inside the operation room, which Tsunade keeps locked during emergencies, leaving a clone outside to guard. She released the clone and walked towards the two-way door. She pushed it and tilted the door knob, but it didn't budge. Sakura, then, decided to stop bothering, but there was really something in there that she just HAD to see.

Two weeks later…

Naruto, who was said to have stayed in his apartment all this time, walked through the streets of Konoha with a huge grin on his face. Everyone who knew and understood his condition saw this as his obvious 'emotional mask'. _A new record… One hundred laps around Konoha after eating ten bowls of ramen, _he thought as he rubbed his tummy while walking. But instead of thinking of the ramen he just ate, he thought of the Kyuubi's presence in him, with his stomach as proof of it.

His happy face suddenly changed into a gloomy one as he began thinking seriously. _Sasuke… Don't waste this decision I made… That sacrifice I took…_

At this, he ran off to the building that he had just passed… the Hospital.

_387… 388… 389… Where is it…? Ah! Here it is!_

The blond slowly pushed the door open. As he entered, he saw twelve people in the room. He was having second thoughts as he entered the room. There, sitting beside the bed, was the two kunoichis obsessing with Sasuke ever since… well, ever since… The others were sitting on the chairs provided in the private room. _Hn, I didn't get THIS much attention back then…_ Naruto thought behind his head.

"Naruto…" Naruto turned to see Sai sitting on a chair in a backwards position. He was looking at the raven-haired, unconscious boy lying on the bed. Shikamaru, then, spoke "What… happened to him…? What did you two… do?"

"Nothing…"

"Tsunade-sama told us it was you who brought him back, Naruto… She said that Sasuke returned in a… a near-death state. His breath rate was as slow as a snail, while his chakra was down to 10 ..."

Naruto was looking at the cream-painted wall, trying to avoid eye contact with the others "I… I better go before—" as he turned around for the door, a hand touched his shoulder, making him turn around to see Sakura's hand in front of him. Naruto openly accepted the punch Sakura sent him.

"Hello… Sakura…" Naruto looked at Sakura with cold eyes, while Sakura returned an angry look, trying her best to put as much killer intent as she can.

"You… did this to him!!!" she shouted as she sent him another punch, which sent Naruto into the nearby wall. Naruto fell to the floor with his back on the wall. He grinned slightly and looked up to see different expressions. Most of them showed no emotions with slight annoyance, obviously thinking that he deserved this for almost killing Sasuke. Only Sai, Hinata, Kakashi and Yamato showed worry. Naruto then remembered the whispers of the villagers:

_50 percent: 'Thank God Sasuke-kun is back… now he can defend us from (looks at Naruto) monsters…'_

_5 percent:'Why did that traitor have to return!?_

_5 percent:'Did you see the damage dealt on Sasuke? Poor Uchiha…'_

_45 percent (which Naruto would have thought 100): 'Good! Sasuke-kun's back… But I hope that Naruto-bakemono (monster) died along the way…'_

Naruto stood up with the grin still visible on his face. He walked towards the door, hanging a note onto the 'case' where the 'get well soon' cards are kept. Hinata was about to follow, until Kakashi blocked her way with his hand.

"Give him some time to… get over things… and heal along the way…" Sai and Hinata sent their two senseis questioning looks. Eventually, everything, attention and time, was back to Sasuke.


	3. Leaving is a Tough Decision

Sorry for the wait, guys! Here's the next chapter! Oh, and thanks for the reviews and PMs regarding the story! Oh, please go to my profile for the polls and other polls I'll be putting up… Oh, and, yeah… Early note for freaks who like yaoi or yuri, none of those can be found here… Eek! I was too formal! Anyway, no offense, guys… Oh, and, yeah! For those who added me to their favourite or alert list, or sent me PMs regarding this, or added me to their C2s… Please review… I'd appreciate it… Thanks!

**Chapter 3**

**Leaving is a Tough Decision**

The next few days were unusually… quiet. Tsunade strictly ordered the jounins to train their students for no missions were to be assigned to any on anytime soon. And, once again, due to the busy days, no one noticed Naruto's silencing. All they did was either train or waste time talking to the unconscious Sasuke.

Unbeknownst to everyone, or anyone in this matter, Naruto was already out of the village. His condition was now deadly, and any ordinary person could drop anytime. Well… that is, IF he was an ordinary person. This was Uzumaki, no… Namikaze Naruto, the son of Namikaze Minato and the host of Kyuubi, the nine-tailed demon fox. Other than that, he was not alone. Travelling with him is a close and similar friend. It was none other than the former host of the one-tailed Raccoon.

"Gaara, why..? Your life was perfect in Suna…"

"I owe you, Naruto… Besides, I have to, and I want to," the red-haired Sand nin replied as he looked down to look at the blond hanging onto him. He recently retired as the village's Kazekage willingly.

Meanwhile….

In a dark cavern not far from the forest the two friends were walking through, a dark haired boy was sitting down on the ground, recalling everything that had happened to him this past year.

FLASHBACK (red alert!!!)

_The fifteen year-old pre-teen ran past trees as quick as he could, with the red streaks of red in his hair now more visible under the sun. He was sweating and his heart thumped in his chest harder every second that passed. He was going to die soon, and he knew it. _

_He turned around to see that his pursuers were holding back. They weren't even moving, but every time he turned around, there they were, standing. There were two of them, and he was just one. He was outnumbered, and outsized if there was such a word. The other one was slightly taller than him, while the other one wasn't. He was taller AND bigger! These guys just creeped him out even more as time passed. He turned back to see the path diverge into two different paths, but he stuck to his instincts: Always choose the RIGHT path… (smirk: O.o)_

_AS soon as he went right, he turned to a corner and found himself near a dead end. He swore under his breath "Curses!"_

_He turned and begun to run for it, but was stopped as his eyes met the cold, red eyes of his pursuer. "Why are you running from us?"_

_The other one, bigger than the first speaker, smirked and laughed in a sinister and creepy way "I guess his running like those cowardly kids than ran from him earlier. Why don't you face us like you did to those three 'strange' men that you encountered earlier? I mean, c'mon… We're barely different from them."_

_His last comment had a touch of sarcasm in his voice. At this, the shorter one elbowed him, which he returned with a glance. The shorter one seemed to lose his patience and he hit the tall one hard at the back of his neck. The big one rubbed the back of his head and cursed "What is wrong with you!?"_

_After that, he muttered something under his breath which sounded like 'I don't even know how I can bare working with this bastard…'_

_The other one, who seemed satisfied with what he did earlier, ignored this "We saw you scare those kids off your path earlier. Hn, you must have a good reputation with them, I suppose…"_

_The tall pre-teen decided to stop running and, instead, enjoyed having company to whom he could share his emotions "I… I tend to have that kind of effect on anyone who sees me… and I don't even know why."_

_The one with red eyes tried his best to see the figure out of the darkness that almost clouded his eyes._

Sorry for the shortness of this chapter. I'm still waiting for my parents to leave. Anyway, I just might update tomorrow if I'm happy with what I see (and if I'm not busy; besides, my parents are going to work tomorrow) so… REVIEW!!!

Oh, right… There still might be time to let me change my mind on this: The next chapter might be a little continuation of this flashback just to explain the happenings. You have to review. I just might summarize it. Just a little teaser for the next episode (my plan at least):

_"Hey, Kazi-san… Teach me some of your bloodline's special jutsus…"_

_"Why, Naruto-san?"_

_"Hey, if we're going to be the first Yajuuyoges, then we have to learn more about each other… We have to work together…"_

_"Yoges?"_

_"I'm guessing he's in, too…" Gaara suggested as he pointed towards the bed where the weak, but conscious, Kaiten lay._

_"What about Taichou?" the new guy asked as he sat up then pushed his brown shaggy hair back, then looked beside him. He pulled the blanket off the smaller bed to reveal a little squirrel on top of a black wolf "Taichou and Kido-sama's going with us, right?"_

_"Don't worry guys… You're coming with me, or else I won't go with them…" he said as he stroked the animals gently. His cold and firm voice was back._

_Naruto and Gaara looked at each other then looked back to Kaiten. Naruto leaned sidewards to close in to Gaara "Taichou? Kido-sama? Is he referring to those animals?"_

Just for info:

Yajuu is another word for bakemono, monster

yoge is my invented word which means three kage/s (san plus kage)

Yajuusage is a word meaning three kages of the monster village (considered as one leader)


	4. The Trio's Plans, p1

I've just recently checked my e-mail, and I was very… disappointed! I saw… something far below my expectations… Sorry… I meant far FROM below my expectations… All I can say is… WHOA!!! Thank you!!! First off, I got enough reviews to urge me to update within a day! Next, I was added to multiple author alerts or favorite… Phew! This fanfic got more attention than my other fanfics… Yay! I have accomplished my goal! You guys are really making my day(s)! This will be a good birthday present for me, guys! Thanks! (PS: I'll try to update on March 1!!!) Anyway, this doesn't mean I'm not aiming for anything more… For readers who read with their cell phone which can't easily review, please review with your computer… hehe… Pretty much like me… Anyway, read, enjoy, review and vote in the poll if you have time…

**Fightingdreamer01**: _Fanfic continuation, engage!!! Next chapter, beta checked… Go on..!_

**Redwall64**: It's fun to have a robot beta!

**Fightingdreamer01**: Shut up, red!

**Redwall64**: Whatever, dude! Hey, say my disclaimer for me!

**Fightingdreamer01**: sigh… _Redwall64 no own Fart-u-2…_

**Redwall64**(stops snoring and raises head, lowers feet to the ground) huh? What was that?

**Fightingdreamer01:** I… uh… (eghm) Disclaimer…

**Redwall64**: (punches and kicks beta's face to the ground and the cute little signs of annoyance appear on her face. A grin is now visible on her face) that's it! You're grounded, mister! Wanna be fired, too? (lights up a lighter then smiles)

In the distance, a loud scream can be heard as birds fly away from the beautiful scenery… (lol, reminds me of a lot of things…) Story time!!!

**Chapter 4**

**The Trio's Plans**

He snickered as he remembered all this. Soon, he began narrating to… himself?

"Kisame rubbed the back of his head like the idiot he is… Itachi was going blind and was becoming the worst teme ever… And the royal so-called pain in the butt was as cute and handsome as ever!" his intentions became quite obvious as he lay down on the ground and laughed, staring at the red ceiling. The cavern wall in front of him began being shaky, until the genjutsu Itachi was using on him was released as Kisame came running towards him "I am going to get you for that, shrimp! Just because I said I enjoyed teaching me doesn't mean you can enjoy teasing me and take advantage of it!"

The teen stayed calm and closed his eyes, smiling. Itachi pulled Kisame by his collar, saying "Stay calm, Kisame… I wouldn't want to waste our training with him and see him dead so fast…"

"You're lucky he's not yet THAT blind…"

_**CONTINUATION OF FLASHBACK**_

_"And you don't even know why?" at Itachi's question, the boy nodded in approval "Yeah, well… Why do you care? And what's with all the fuss…"_

_At times like this, he wished that cartoons were true wherein the police chases them then just invites them to join auctions and stuff. Wait a minute, he doesn't know what a cartoon is, right!?_

_Anyway, at the child's remark, Itachi quickly replied with a bit of enthusiasm in his voice "Let's just say… we can help you…"_

_The boy's eyes lit up in happiness and eagerness, but a bit of confusion and fear joined in "What's in it for you?"_

_He seemed to have sensed their plans indirectly, but, hey! The thought was still there... Kisame, tired of being the background, and his saliva probably drying I their too (eek!), replied "Simple… You just have to help us, as well…"_

_**END OF FLASHBACK**_

Itachi's vision was still quite clear, but with his last encounter with his brother, he had grown quite weak. He was in need of a few days to rest, but the sight of a hard-working boy was enough to make him feel better. This boy was more like a brother to him than Sasuke.

In a forest not far away…

Naruto, finally being able to stand up on his own, looked around with his chin up. He removed his cloak to reveal his usual jumpsuit (Shippuuden setting!!) torn apart. There were huge scratches through the shirt, and his pants where torn to half. His left sleeve was also torn, revealing his whole arm. On the upper part of his arm were many purple forms intersecting with each other. They were glowing and were rooted from a small rounded seal with tiny curved outgrowths. Gaara stared in awe as the closed cavern in front of them began opening up.

"Gaara… This… This is where our legacy begins…"

Give me some cool titles where Naruto can disguise as…

About the little teaser I gave the last chapter… That'll be out in the next chapter… thanks! Reviews, keep them coming! Oh, and for those who added me to their favorite or alert list, please review! I review appreciate it, guys! I mean really appreciate it!

Oh, and do you think Itachi should die or go side by side with Naruto? Decided to make a poll for this…

Oh, and who are the other characters you want to see here? Thanks! Visit my profile for other polls!!!


	5. The Trio's Plans, p2

Well… (sniff, sniff) I'm kind of disappointed to see that I had 100 plus additional clicks but only one… reviewed (thanks, Dashippy!!)… Even the other ones that added me to their favorite and alerts list didn't leave reviews like I asked them to… sigh… I want reviews from you guys so I wouldn't think I'm losing readers fast..! Not that I'm complaining, but… Oh well! That isn't enough to stop me from updating! Next!

PS. these guys are just helping me out, alright? Thanks!

**Fightingdreamer01**: _Fanfic continuation, engage!!! Next chapter, beta checked… Go on..!_

**Redwall64**: you're getting boring…

**Fightingdreamer01**: Wh-what?

**Redwall64**: Your line gets boring as I hear (read) it everyday… Come on in, you!

**Evil-drake: **Disclaimer reporting! I mean… Evil here, ready for disclaimer!

**Redwall64**Now that's interesting! Shoot!

**Evil-drake:** Redwall-64 does not own Naruto… I do!

**Redwall64**: (punches and kicks beta's face to the ground and the cute little signs of annoyance appear on her face. A grin is now visible on her face) Disclaimed! You're grounded, mister! Wanna be fired, too? (lights up a lighter then smiles)

**Fighting-dreamer01: **(laughing)

**Chapter 5**

**The Trio's Plans**

Naruto sat behind a statue of a brown dragon that crouched, easily revealing the boy's blond hair. On the other hand, Gaara sat on top of a statue of a gray gargoyle. Gaara's eyes were focused on what the two men were doing to his companion, his friend. Naruto's hands were stretched out as the huge man continuously stabbed his right hand with what looked like an over-sized red dagger. It wasn't color that he was seeing, it was blood.

Naruto's expression seemed too calm. Gaara's suspicions were rising. _Is this _really_ Naruto?_ He thought to himself. The other man with long hair and red, bloody and cold eyes just sat there, watching this manifestation. That is, until, the other one stopped. Kisame yanked his head, signaling Itachi to complete what he was doing. He groaned and walked towards Naruto. Instead of using a dagger, all he did was open his eyes and pull Naruto's shirt up slightly (I repeat, NO YAOI!), revealing the seal on his tummy. His Sharingan slowly began spinning. Later, a bloody red light blinded Gaara off his feet. He fell of the Gargoyle, and the next thing he saw was Naruto lying on the dirty bed.

-----------------------------------------

Konoha… The once happy place was even happier than usual. Why, you ask? One reason, one person… Naruto and Sakura. They have heard of what Sakura did to Naruto. Others commented her. Some say that she was a bit, just a BIT, too rough on him. Others said she was TOO mean and judging. Others simply asked if he almost killed Sasuke, but most of them… thanked Sakura for driving him away from causing mayhem in the village. Was it really her fault?

Sakura actually didn't care what the people thought, except for the fact that they enjoyed his silencing. Until now, nobody has noticed Naruto's absence. (XP)

Today will be different again. The gang decided to hold a little 'meeting' with Naruto. Their destination was Naruto's house.

Sakura, who was walking beside Ino and Hinata, just looked forwards with the other two glancing back at her to see any changes in her expression. None… The other members of Rookie 9 and Team Gai were either leading or behind them. No one dared to break the deadly silence.

After the years of silence (or at least it SEEMED like years) they stopped. There, in front of them, was the closed door of Naruto's apartment. '_Finally…'_ the others thought. They knocked on the door.

No reply.

They knocked again…

Still nothing…

One more try…

"That's it!" the long-haired shinobi exclaimed "Byakugan!"

The others patiently waited for any results with Neji's sudden change. This 'invasion' was totally not his style. Now, even Neji's face was as unresponsive as Naruto, if ever he was there.

"Neji-san… I-is everything… alright?" Hinata asked in her unusual voice "What do you see?"

"Nothing…" was Neji's quick reply "No one…"

Dead silence… Sakura was getting irritated, fast "Naruto! Get this fucking door open!!!"

She gathered chakra into her hand, but before she could release her deadly blow, someone opened the door. But, instead, it turned out to be Neji pushing the door open with no effort at all.

"The door wasn't locked. Or, rather, the door can't be locked," he said pointing at the door with no lock. As soon as the door was wide open, they gasped. There, sitting in front of them, was a… horrifying scene. The wall was scraped… (Wait… I don't want to describe it, just imagine his house dirty and all)

"Does Naruto EVER clean?" asked Ino as she rubbed her fingers to remove the dust she got from the kitchen counter. While Ino stood away from the dusty parts of his house, the others watched as Hinata opened a crumpled note she got from the trash can. As she opened it, her eyes twitched. The others joined in to see the words almost covered with drops of glowing, red blood. Kiba, once again curious, asked "What is that?"

"Blood with chakra, I suppose… But that can't… Where did Naruto get all that chakra, then?" Shikamaru thought as he rubbed his chin with his right hand "That only occurs when a person suffered severe, I repeat SEVERE, chakra loss, like loss of 90 plus percent of your chakra, or when the excess chakra in a person's body forces its way out of a person's body through blood. The first option is very unlikely, considering the fact that Naruto seemed pretty okay days ago. But the second option is just too much. The last time that happened, a person died the next day…"

At this, the others looked at him with worried faces, but he soon felt the tension around him.

"Not that he's going to die, guys! But it's really rare to see people with too much chakra in their body. Even I wouldn't believe Naruto has that much chakra."

The others decided to shake these negative thoughts off their heads and, instead, read the message:

_Naruto,_

_Hn, sorry about almost killing you back there… I didn't know what I was doing. You, of all people, should know that. And what you're planning is not for the best, Naruto. Don't go on with this, please. (If you're wondering how I'm writing this in my current state, Kakashi-sensei's talking with me in my mindscape with our sharingan. Meaning, he's writing this, explaining the crummy writing). You'd think I don't know what you just did before I woke up. Anyway, thanks for removing my cursed seal. It was getting itchy. Anyway, please… If you're reading this, please… Think it through, Naruto… Please…_

_Sasuke_

Not long after, they hear Ino screaming with her disgusted tone (she read the note, alright!?). The others followed her voice into the kitchen. She was standing by the sink, where she was keeping herself from looking at the sink. There filling the sink was dark, glowing, red blood.

There wasn't time to waste. They went straight to the woman with answers. Tsunade Godaime.

------------------------------------------

"Gaara, behind you!" Naruto shouted. The red-haired ex-Sand shinobi and ex-Jinchuuriki turned around to face the masked man who attempted to attack him. He swayed his hand, kicking the man into the trees.

He stood straight and waved his hands in an annoyed manner "Come on! Just give up, already!"

He pushed his hand backwards, killing the man behind him in one blow "You very well know I won't die in defeat in front of Naruto! Besides…"

He turned around and whirled around, kicking multiple enemies at once "I won't waste all our ambitions in a flash…"

"Quit your blabbering, kid!" stated a brown shaggy-haired guy who pushed his hair back "Let's go straight to the action!"

"Gaara, pull back and go to the tavern! I want to face this guy…" Naruto said with a wink. Gaara nodded without hesitation and jumped up into the trees.

"It's Naruto, by the way…"

"Kaiten…"

This wasn't like the usual way of greeting where one person shakes the other's hand. This one was different. As soon the stranger introduced himself, Naruto threw a kunai which the guy dodged as he jumped up. The kunai hit the tree branch behind the guy.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk… Weak start…"

"Don't worry… This fight has barely begun."

Naruto charged at the teen that looked like 16 years old. He took out two pairs of kunais in each hand which he threw forward "Are kunais all you have against me!?"

"What if it is? I can still beat you," Naruto boasted with a grin. He settled onto a branch and stood in a battle stance. He formed the seal he was famous for "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

His opponent watched in shock as blue chakra suddenly engulfed his hands (XD). '_A Jounin-level technique… I thought he was a Genin!?' _he thought as a clone appeared beside him. He decided to use this against him "A mere clone?"

He chuckled and didn't realize that a clone stood behind him, whispering "Do you actually know how many clones I made?"

He clenched his fist and smiled. He struck the clone through the stomach "Don't care and never will."

"You know what, I thought you'd put up a good fight," he paused, crossed his arms then leaned onto a sword beside him "But it turns out that you're like everyone else… You know, calling out clones to do their bidding, yadda yadda yadda…"

Naruto, being the loud-mouth and proud ninja he is, got annoyed and released the clones he dispersed. He looked at the guy and there fight finally began…

**(A/N: I came upon one decision: Fight scenes will be in another fanfic I will post. I noticed that some people become bored with those… Anyway, this fanfic s focused on the happenings, not the fights… Anyway, that fanfic will be posted after the exams… Thanks!)**

The two teens breathe deeply as they fell to the ground "You put up a good fight…"

He paused and watched his opponent fall unconscious "Kaiten-san… I now see the reason why the Akatsuki wants you…"

-------------------------------------------

(POV change)

Ugh… Where the hell am I?

"Hey, Kazi-san… Teach me some of your bloodline's special jutsus…" Is that..?

"Why, Naruto-san?" Naruto…

"Hey, if we're going to be the first Yajuuyoges, then we have to learn more about each other… We have to work together…" I forced my eyes open. My eyelids are heavy… In general, it hurts. I sat up and looked around the room to see three people around me. One was Naruto, the other was a red-haired guy with a tattoo on his forehead while the next one was a red-haired guy.

(Narration)

"Yoges?"

"I'm guessing he's in, too…" Gaara suggested as he pointed towards the bed where the weak, but conscious, Kaiten lay.

"Wha-what? Who… Where..?"

"Good evening, Kaiten…"

"What are you..?"

"We have a preposition to make… First off we found out that you're really a Jinchuuriki, like us," Kaiten nodded.

"We have a plan on people like you…" Naruto said, catching the boy's attention.

--------------------------------------

After a while…

"What about Taichou?" the new guy asked as he pushed his brown shaggy hair back, then looked beside him. He pulled the blanket off the smaller bed to reveal a little squirrel on top of a black wolf "Taichou and Kido-sama's going with us, right?"

"Don't worry guys… You're coming with me, or else I won't go with them…" he said as he stroked the animals gently. His cold and firm voice was back.

Naruto and Gaara looked at each other then looked back to Kaiten. Naruto leaned sidewards to close in to Gaara "Taichou? Kido-sama? Is he referring to those animals?"

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Sigh… I'm not actually happy with how this chapter ended, but, hey! The next chapter will be good; at least I'll try to make it a good one… Anyway, PLEASE review, comment, or PM me!!! Oh, and, sorry about the long time before I updated. I had to speed this one up because the exams are coming up (again!)… Review!!!


	6. MissingNins

I feel very satisfied about the 1000 hits I just got!! Oh, and the reviews helped, too! Gosh, I never thought this fanfic could get this much attention in days, tops! I kinda got restless, so I just HAD to post this now!!! Anyway, thanks! The action fanfic will be entitled 'Changes in Fights' (lol, peace out! Can't think right now, I'm listening to my new iPod… My birthday (March 1) gift! You really made my day! Sorry if I kind of got carried away with my OC creation…

**Fighting-dreamer01 and evil-drake**: _Fanfic continuation, engage!!! Stop hogging the screen!!_

**Redwall64**: Shut up!!!

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. If you lawyers sue me, no chocolate for you!!!

**Chapter 6**

**Missing-Nin**

"Tsunade-sama! Explain!" Sakura shouted as she put the note on the table, producing a loud 'dgsh' sound. Sakura became furious with what she just read. Tsunade, being the hot-headed woman she is, replied with a sigh "Sakura…"

"No, I—" Sakura really wanted to shout at her, the woman who trained her for almost three years, the woman who ruled over Konoha and the woman that just kept a huge secret from her.

"I am currently having a meeting with someone, Sakura! Now if you don't mind, leave!" Now, Sakura was annoyed. She was impatient, and she wanted answers… fast… She looked around to see nobody else other than her friends in the room "Stop making stupid excuses, Tsunade-sama!"

"Sakura!!!" Tsunade shouted as she stood up and slammed her table. She, too, is now mad and everyone in the room knew it, "Calm yourself down and shut up!"

Sakura sat down and breathe heavily.

"Sakura, I would be glad to explain, but not now…" before she could even finish her last world, someone jumped into the room from the window "Tsunade-sama, they found no trace of Na—"

The person stopped when he saw the number of people in the room. He stood up from his crouching position and moved forward a bit, closing in to the Hokage.

"Tsunade-sama, aren't we suppose to continue this meeting," he looked around at the others "-privately…"

"It's okay, Kakashi… They know… Bring him in…"

The masked jounin nodded and yanked his head, facing the window. Suddenly, a black and blue figure dashed into the window and landed beside Tsunade.

"Ohayo…"

-----------------------------------------------

"Uhmmm… Kaiten… Is that normal to you?" the blond, handsome (hey! I'm just praising my husband) teen asked as he looked from the animals to the brown-haired he just recently fought.

"Oh, yes, Naruto-kun…" suddenly, his senses seemed to awaken him and he looked around. The red walls of the tavern they were in were lit up by what seemed like torches in a big basket hanging on one side of the wall "Naruto…"

"Yes?" Naruto replied as he walked towards the door beside Kaiten's bed.

"Wh-where are we..?" his face now seemed to show fear "Why am I here?"

"Do you know anything about the group Akatsuki?" Naruto reached for something inside the room of the door he just opened with half of his body inside, the other half outside.

The teen moved back in shock then nodded in response "Yes… I-I heard they took people with the great monsters in them, even the little monsters… What do they have to do with this, or worse, with me!? And why did you attack our base awhile ago?"

"Base? I thought that was a village!?" Gaara asked, suddenly interested.

"Yeah… Our village is divided into different bases which specific groups guard with appointed leaders… Oh, and—Wait a minute! Don't change the topic!" he shook his head then asked, again, in a serious tone "Where are we?!"

Naruto, now standing beside Kaiten, looked down at him and closed the door behind him. He was holding a katana in one hand and some clothes on the other. He threw the clothes on the bed where the red-haired guy (the one who had the stinking flashbacks) was lying on, and he clutched the sword on his other hand.

"Simple, Kaiten… What do you think the Akatsuki do to the monsters?"

"I-I heard," he paused; his words sometimes cut off by stutters "I heard they took the hosts of these monsters… They ex—extract the creatures, killing the host in the process…"

"You have heard correctly, kid…" Naruto said with a smile, in his mind thinking that for once someone feared and respected him because of his tone. He thought of himself as superior compared to the teen in front of him that was the same age as him. He raised the sword at the level of his face, but farther. He stretched his arms out and asked, smiling "Are you afraid..?"

"I-I'm…" he continued this sentence with a bit of humor in his tone. He closed his eyes, waiting for death to engulf him anytime soon…

"I'm claustrophobic…"

---------------------------------------------------

"Sakura… Rookie 9… Glad to… see you again…" the raven-haired boy looked up at them. He was wearing black trousers and a blue shirt. A short cape covered his right thigh, from the waist curving down to the knee.

"Sasuke…"

"I think I know what's going on in here…" he paused then looked from Tsunade to the others "You're asking Tsunade-sama about what really happened and she refuses to answer, making stupid excuses that won't work, huh?"

The others can't help but let out a bit of 'snicker' after Sasuke's statement, but the others (namely Shikamaru, Sakura, Sai, Hinata, Neji) were to serious for this, disregard Tsunade who was too annoyed for a laugh.

"Sasuke, I can handle this (with the little 'annoyed' sign on her forehead; can't help it! They look cute/funny that way)…" Tsunade asked with a frown crossing her face.

"You see…" Sasuke sat down on a couch as he closed his eyes, clearly ignoring Tsunade "About a month ago I was on my way to the Hidden Village of Sand. That was right after my little encounter with Itachi…"

**(A/N: BEWARE!! Long explanation by Sasuke-kun, my otousan!! (I'm Sakuke!!)**

Tsunade first planned on stopping Sasuke, but the mention of the S-Rank missing-nin caught her attention. "Anyway… Before I even reached 10 miles near Suna, I felt this stinging sensation in my neck. It was somewhere around my cursed seal… When I pulled off my collar, I saw the cursed seal acting up again. But, this time, purple outgrowths were popping out. When I fell to the ground, the next thing I saw was Zetsu and Itachi looking down at me. My vision blurred afterwards and, then, I was inside a cavern…

"After I regained consciousness… I felt so… overpowered… I don't really know how to describe it, but, I felt like my whole body regained all the chakra I lost years ago… It was then that I realized something… My Mangekyou has awakened…" he looked around to see if everyone was still listening. He looked back to his hands when he realized that all eyes were on him.

"Anyway… Not long after, I saw myself in a Genjutsu. I released it and saw a mass field surrounding me. There lying on a fallen tree was Naruto… he was wearing something weird… He was wearing an all black but red-shaded clothes. Well… Let's just say that I kinda got carried away with my Mangekyou… One thing that surprised me was that… Well, I had to use the Mangekyou against him three times…"

The others who knew about the Mangekyou were taken aback, but the clueless ones (the girls, the boys except the senseis, Sai, and Shikamaru) just stared at him blankly.

"None of them even took effect on him. The things around him were all either dissolved or destroyed, but he just remained there… alive. Anyway, I noticed one big thing… He was holding back… He barely tried to attack me! Then, out of nowhere, Naruto launched this weird attack. A huge ball of red came out from his hand. It was like Rasengan, except… red… Anyway, I know I dodged it, but a clone popped out and hit me with another. More came and I kept dodging and dodging, until the original Naruto came out. His body was engulfed in a huge red ball. He closed in then, once again, my vision blurred out. Next thing I know I saw him sitting by me, healing my neck. I looked at the floor to see a symbol similar to my cursed seal. Soon, I blacked out.

"There… Next thing was that I woke up in the hospital. Naruto was talking to me in my sleep, so he probably knows the effect of the technique he cast on me… He heals me… He loses 90 plus percent of his chakra and… I stay unconscious for a few weeks… I felt my body lighten up. It was then that I realized that the cursed seal was gone."

The room was kept silent for quite a while. The others' insides were hanging on with guilt in their head and hearts. It would have stayed that way if Tsunade didn't break the silence.

"Kakashi, Sasuke, proceed with your missions!"

"Hai!" the two shinobis exclaimed as they prepared to jump off the window.

"And as for you kids…"

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	7. Konoha’s Top Enemies

Yay! My first negative review from an anonymous user! I'd like to clear one thing: This story has barely begun, okay? I'm saying this not against you, but still in favour to me. First off, pairings aren't decided yet. Second, I have a plan to get back at Sakura's b!tchy attitude in this fanfic. (hehe, angst!) Trust me, I'm gonna get her back (well... lol, am I really doing this to my OWN fanfic). Anyway, that's why I asked the readers to vote through reviews (PS. I'm in favour with the NaruSaku, NaruHina, KibaHina, SasuSaku pairings. That's why I can't make up my mind…) Oh, and this will be harem in the latter parts… Besides, this is my fanfic… Aren't things supposed to go with the flow of the author's brain? Anyway, if you don't like it, then shoo!

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

**Chapter 7**

**Konoha's Top Enemies**

His eyes were still closed, obviously still waiting for the cold hands of death to embrace him. He waited… and waited… But it never came. He was scared to open his eyes, in fear that one open of his eye might bring in the mighty blow, but he had no other choice… He prepared…

1…

2…

2 ½…

'_Kaiten! Stop fooling around and open your eyes!'_ he thought. Or at least he thought he thought this… He realized that the voice in his head belonged to a woman _'Kaiten!'_

_'Taichou!' _this was his call. He shot his eyes open and closed his eyes once again. The closing of his eyes for that long caused him to forget that the cavern was lit up quite brightly. He opened his eyes, slowly this time, to adjust to the light. He looked around to see Naruto glaring at him, Gaara staring at him and the guy named 'Kazi' laughing on the ground.

On his bed was the clothes Naruto was holding earlier which he thought was thrown to Kazi's bed "Wha-What?"

"Dress up. Itachi wouldn't be happy if he saw you lying around. We have rigorous training ahead of us…" Naruto walked away and put the sword he was holding to the sheath hanging onto his waist.

-----------------------------------------------

"Naruto… Where are you?"

Sakura was restless. She jumped from tree to tree, not getting her mind off the blond that he had just slapped about two to three weeks ago. Now, she had just realized how bad she had treated Naruto.

Naruto did everything for her. HE risked his own life just to fulfil his promise for her. Guilt was storming her insides and it didn't feel good.

"Hey, guys!" came Ino's loud voice. For once, Sakura was happy to hear her voice "I got something..."

Sakura and Sai looked at each other for a minute then charged towards Ino.

"Er… Instead, I think it got ME…" the others, soon, landed around her. They saw her caught in what looked like a bear trap.

"Ino-san…" Hinata softly said as she scratched her head "Aren't we supposed to look only for things related to Naruto-kun?"

Ino pulled her leg off the trap and was surprised to see a set of kunai thrown over her head as she jumped up. She screamed as a kunai slashed her hand and as she fell to the ground. The landing that was supposed to make a 'thud' sound ended up making a 'grsh' sound as Shikamaru fell to the ground, head first. Ino sweatdropped and grinned "ehehe… Arigato, Shikamaru…"

Shikamaru dug his face out of the dirt and shook his head "No problem… Don't mention it… I mean it… Don't!"

"Anyway," Ino stood up and dusted off the dirt on her skirt, "It's not the bear trap I'm talking about. It's what's inside…"

She put her head over the trap, as if observing it from far view. The others followed and saw what looked like a black and red rag. It seemed to have been torn somehow.

"What's this got to do with..?" Sakura decided to leave this thought hanging in the air as she remembered Sasuke's description of Naruto:

_"He was lying on a fallen tree. He wore what seemed like red and black clothes which seemed torn apart, somehow…" __**(A/N: Sorry if it wasn't exact… I'm too tired to go through that copy-paste process… )**_

"Naruto…"

Sai, being the current team leader, looked around them. This caught his friends' attention "Sai-san?"

Hinata put her hands on her waist (kinda OOC, huh?" and asked with her eyebrows raised but with a touch of worry and curiousness in her tone.

Sai looked back at his team and sighed. He looked down at the ground and spoke "I sense something… It, or he/she, may be a someone…"

After about five seconds of complete silence and solitude, five kunais were thrown over Shikamaru's head which he easily dodged. Then, with annoyance, he shouted, referring to whoever threw the kunais to him "Shit! Who's that coward attacking out of nowhere? Next time when you throw stuff, make sure you hit!"

"You actually thought I missed?" a hoarse voice said with a chuckle. Sai sighed and looked up at Shikamaru. He yanked his head, as if pointing to the ground. Shikamaru looked down to his foot to see two tags by his foot on the ground "Oh, great…"

He pulled his head back, knowing that the tag can explode any second. He put his hands in his pocket. Suddenly, the hidden voice spoke again as the tags exploded simultaneously "Mendokusee, Shikamaru…"

Sai jumped up in the air, just in time to miss the shuriken that flew past him. He manoeuvred in the air, pulling off a failed attempt of a back-flip. As he was about to land, he somehow descended and ended up hanging onto a huge branch.

Then Ino, for some reason, picked some strands of her hair (about 8) and dropped them to the ground. She released the (sorry, I forgot the term… You know the one that she used on Sakura during the chunin exams… Please tell me through reviews, thank you!) and stopped right before she reached the tree where the mysterious voice came from.

"Sai…" Hinata stood up straight, wondering about what had just happened "She stood in her fighting stance and raised her right hand in the half part of a tiger seal "Byakugan!"

Veins began bulging out from the sides of her face, at the level of her white, pale eyes. Her eyes widened as she realized what had caused all these. When Sakura was about to jump off to Sai, she blocked her path with her free arm and shook her head "No… Something's up. When you feel something, fight it, no matter what!"

Sakura glanced at her and gave her a questioning look, but she saw the serious look on her friend's face. This only meant one thing: She was serious.

Then, Hinata released the Byakugan's powers. "Give in, you two… You don't stand a chance against us…"

This time, a different voice spoke. It seemed to belong to someone at their age line.

"Hinata, what's up?" Sakura was itching to know what was really going on. Hinata leaned closer to whisper to her "Release the stinking genjutsu!"

Sakura raised her eyebrows then looked around. That's when she realized something. Something WAS definitely wrong.

"I can't believe you fell for a mouse trap… That might be a bear trap for bears, but not for humans. Besides, even bears don't fall for that **(there are bears in Naruto, right? I think I saw one in the movie…)"**

Sakura, like she usually does when caught in a common genjutsu, released it.

"No need for that, though. I'm releasing it for you. We're here for action, not to watch you stink and rot in place," the first speaker said.

"You may be, but we're not…" another different voice spoke coldly as the genjutsu seemed to fade, revealing three figures in the shade of a tree.

"Can you believe that, sub-9? He's not allowing us to have fun just because he's 'superior'," he emphasized the last word with sarcasm, probably to annoy the third speaker.

"Actually I can sub-6… After all, he's our BOSS…"

"Shut up! Anyway, we're here for two things. One is for training and second…" the tallest one with the cold voice looked at the Konoha nins. Sakura and Hinata looked around. They were probably embarrassed for recently realizing that all their teammates were all back to normal, seeing that they were caught in some genjutsu.

"We were here to tell you to… (eghm…) Sub-9, please do the honors…" the tallest of the three stepped back and gave way to the first speaker "Hai, hai… It's simple really… Stop searching for that… curse of yours… You know… the one that was said to almost kill your precious Uchiha…"

The third speaker chuckled slightly at the mention of the words 'curse' and Uchiha. But as soon as the guy finished talking, they all disappeared, showing a slight glint of red from the tall one's eyes.

"Was he talking about Naruto-kun?" Hinata asked.

"I think I have a clue of who that group was…" Shikamaru said "I mean it's pretty logical… Did you see the red eyes of the tall guy. And his voice… It was like… Itachi's in a way…"

**(A/N: Sorry! Prepare for boring parts now…)**

The silence, once again, came…

"Oh, and were you guys caught in that genjutsu, too?" Sakura asked the others.

"Genjutsu? What genjutsu?"

"The genjutsu where the three of you ended up doing weird stuff while trying to attack the invader…" the three members Sakura was referring to blushed, with Sai saying "That was no genjutsu, Sakura-chan… That was real…"

Sai thought back a few minutes ago…

_He looked down and sighed __**'Better not make any sudden movements or that shadow could get me…'**_

_He looked up to see Shikamaru caught by two explosive tags __**'The tags must've hidden in the shadows… I can't believe a member of the Nara clan can be caught with such basics. Maybe the user's a high-class nin…'**_

_**"Oh, shit…"**__ Sai swore under his breath as a huge flying shuriken came flying from behind him. He jumped up, just in time to miss it. As soon as he was in mid-air, he sensed a familiar yet strange (oh, the irony!) huge chakra signature._

_Soon, he didn't realize that his body was out of his control. He closed his eyes, and in a minute of pause, he was in front of a huge branch, and another second, black out!_

After that freaky zone out, the others went back to Konoha to report their findings.

---------------------------------------------

"You did what!?"

"Sakura… I had no choice!"

"But--!"

"As long as the council is here, I have nothing to support me on this against them!"

Tsunade had Sakura shouting back at her, as she was the only one with enough guts to do so.

"Just because Naruto's gone missing, doesn't mean he has to be declared as an S-Class Missing nin!"

"You said it yourself in your report. You found no trace of him, even Kakashi, Sasuke and the ANBU can't find him. I'm sorry to say this but for now… we have no choice but to declare him as an enemy…"

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Hey, I decided not to make the new fanfic thing… That would just be additional pains… So if you want to read it, please review and tell me… I'll post it in the next chapter when I get the reviews saying you want to read Kaiten and Naruto's fight…

PLEASE REVIEW and VOTE in my POLL!!!!

Oh, comments, suggestions, PMs, questions, negative stuff, or even flames are allowed and accepted, except for flames which I would just ignore..!


	8. The Truth Hurts

The Truth Be Told

**The Truth Be Told**

(Alternate Chapter Title: **The Truth Hurts**)

Ten minutes to midnight, and almost every citizen in Konoha is asleep. The nins entrusted to guard the village at night.

A pack of teen ninjas strolled down the dark streets of Konoha as quietly as they can.

"Sakura!?" Kiba asked, grumbling under his breath as he scratched the back of his head, "Why did you call us at this time of hour?"

"I was able to talk Tsunade-sama into giving us a secret mission extension, but under one condition," Sakura stated as she sighed loudly, "No one will know. Not even our parents…"

The others suddenly shot up, looking at Sakura. Shikamaru was the first to break the silence, "Any other conditions you're not telling us?"

Apparently, the first thought that jumped into Sakura's mind was the fact that Shikamaru noticed Sakura's restlessness. Before finally confessing, she let out a long sigh and looked up, "Well… Tsunade-sama told me to choose which of you guys will be tagging along. Some of you will be staying here to perform missions we missed last week."

As expected, negative reactions aroused from the group.

"Sakura-san, how can we help if we stay here?" Neji asked as he suddenly turned his head, as if looking for something.

"You can help by covering us up. If someone asks where we are, cover us up. At first, Tsunade-hime insisted in letting only girls to accompany me, but I kind of forced her into a battle and—"

"You beat her!?" Ino asked loudly, as she was as excited as everyone, except Neji and Hinata who seemed restless, "No… I was beaten like a pulp."

((((sweatdrop flood!!))))

"Anyway, there are reasons I chose those who will be coming. Considering the expected enemies we will be facing. Okay, before you came here, I'm quite sure all of you kind of… prepared in advance," and with a touch of embarrassment, all of them nodded. Sakura shook her head with a smile and sighed, "Figures… Anyway, Hinata will be going, considering that she IS one of the people who want to see Naruto alive and that she was the one who Naruto was with while I was gone."

Ino, being a close friend (and rival) of Sakura, gave her a questioning look. Sakura shrugged and exclaimed with her fist raised, "What!? She has a Byakugan!"

Over the two and a half years Naruto was out of the village, with Sakura the only remaining member of Team 7 in Konoha, Sakura was given more time to train with Tsunade… and become closer to the Rookie 9, specifically Ino, Hinata, Kiba and Tenten.

"And, of course, Ino because of your shadow… thing…" Sakura did this in purpose, just for irritating purposes. Ino's brows furrowed, gritting her teeth.

"As for the guys, for some reason, Tsunade-sama insisted on bringing Sai with us. I don't really know why, but," obviously everyone else knew why. Sai was the one travelling with Naruto as filling in for Sasuke, with Hinata as the temporary replacement of the busy Sakura. Sai knows enough about Naruto to understand him, and to be able to talk him into coming back. Although none of them are even sure if Naruto is still alive, they were assured by the council that he is either with the Akatsuki by now, or dead. The others are still unsure of what the Akatsuki wants with a brat like Naruto, at least that's what they think.

"Sasuke will be joining the search for Naruto separately. He says he has his own plans. He's probably near Suna by now. Anyway, I liked Tsunade-sama's suggestion of letting Shikamaru tag along. I chose to let him come instead of Neji, considering that we already have Hinata. Gomen, Neji-san. I know you wanted to help…"

"I expected as much. Anyway, I have no problem with that, as long as you succeed in your mission," Neji shrugged and smiled, receiving a smile back at him.

"Next are, none other than, Kiba and Shino. You probably understand why," Sakura stated, receiving nods as replies, "Well, looks like there is no need to team up and prepare. Let's go!"

Before Sakura can even get her feet off the ground, Neji called out and all of them noticed the cousins' restlessness "Mate! (Wait!)"

--

Naruto rubbed his cheeks with his right palm. His back was crouched as he sat on top of a rock by a river.

"Naruto, Itachi-san wants us to spar with two new kids," the red-haired former Kazekage quietly said as he walked over to Naruto, careful not to wake the two sleeping nins on the floor, "Now."

"Who is it now?" Naruto asked as he sat up and looked for something in his pouch. He took out what looked like a pill and swallowed it whole.

"I'm not really sure myself. All I know is that the first is a jinchuuriki, while the other one was an Akatsuki apprentice/trainee long ago, then he was used for an experiment. Oh, but Itachi asks that you go to him before going to the training grounds. He says adjustments are to be done to the both of us," Naruto then nodded and spoke, "Right… They haven't sealed yours yet. Mine is yet to be compacted in me."

Gaara gave him a questioning and curious look, while Naruto returned a familiar, yet strange, look that is to be usually read as 'You'll see' which usually scares Gaara.

Just awhile ago, Gaara began having second thoughts, but he knows that what he is doing is for the best. At least he hopes it will be.

_'Never mind,' _he thought, _'At the very least, I know Naruto knows what he is doing… I hope…'_

_'I just hope we won't have to kill these two like the last batch,' _Naruto thought as he jumped down and walked to the next field with Gaara.

--

"Neji-san? Hinata? What's the matter?" Ino asked with her curiosity rising. Neji simply looked back at Ino and quickly jumped up in the air, throwing a couple of shuriken at the empty sky. He jumped back, landing on a huge tree trunk that seemed to be dotted with little unknown features. "Hinata," he added "What do YOU see?"

"A blurry figure from afar, Neji-san," she added, "and it does not seem to be in a hurry to reach us."

"That means only one thing," Sakura, once again, prepared to jump of the ground and jump through the forest past Konoha, "We have to leave, now!" Sakura pushes the ground back, followed by the others, but once everyone has landed on their tree branches, a figure in a long black robe appeared in front of the pink-haired kunoichi "Not a very smart move to make, kunoichi-san. And I thought you were smart. It seems that I was wrong."

Ignoring the shock that was still present on her face, she seemed too alert to not notice the man at first, but considering what was on her mind, she was quite absent-minded. After that little encounter, a kunai was thrown flying to the air, followed by a huge dog and a teen on all fours jumping up to stop the man from lowering his hand onto Sakura. This represented the beginning of a fight.

"Now, now, is this really necessary?" asked the tall man in his solemn, yet creepy, voice. He raised his hand to his forehead and sighed "I mean we could all just head back to where we're all supposed to be headed to and--"

A blast of blue chakra formed into a perfect circle hit the back of the long-haired man. The man crouched with his hand on the branch, revealing Neji behind him. The stranger seemed to have muttered for a while, and before the others could react, he shouted, "Kaihou Gogyou!"

Immediately after, water seemed to surround the man, lifting his wavy hair up. The force of the water pushed back against Kiba, Neji and Sakura, pushing them off and onto the ground. It had enough chakra to dig them into the ground, but luckily for the chuunins, the others kicked chakra across the ground below them to prevent their fall.

Shikamaru threw a kunai at him and intentionally missed him by an inch, with the kunai hitting the tree he was on, "Kage Fuu!"

"Oh, shit," the man exclaimed as the tree began to shadow over him with flames engulfing the large tree. He jumped off, just a minute too late before the flames would have caught his robe.

"Tsk, have they thought chuunins these days to jump to conclusions? Where's the hospitality?"

He stepped out of the dark side of the forest, revealing his white eyes and pale skin, with his long hair tied at his back.

"O-otousan?" stuttered Hinata, as if her old self has returned with just one look at

"Hiashi-san," Neji stated calmly, as if a wind had just passed him without him even feeling.

"Don not worry, I will pretend not to have heard anything. That said, Hinata and Neji-san, please follow me back home," he seemed to have noticed Sakura start to argue, so he continued, "I am not taking them away from you, I am merely taking them closer to everyone else. A very important meeting is to be attended by these two. I would like to refer to it as a favour to a person dear to you..."

Hiashi walked off with Hinata and Neji looking back at the others with scornful frowns.

"Tenten, come on..." Sakura said, yanking her head.

"Oh, and one more thing," Hiashi said, a few steps from them, "I give you my blessing of meeting up with Naruto-san."

This surprised Sakura and the two Nejis more than the others. She has always thought that he did not like Naruto.

"I advise you to start looking for him somewhere where the forest is barely never used," he walked off with what seemed like a wink, leaving that sentence with the torturing irony left with them, where in fact, Konoha's forest is always used by ninjas.

--

Later that night, the team has reached as far as they usually can, but they tried not to go too far from Konoha, considering Hiashi's advice. Sakura refused to rest, but the others insisted that she needs the energy if she wants to find Naruto.

The strong wind and rain that followed made Sakura's stroll even harder for her. The path became muddy, and her vision soon blurred out as the fog thickened. She looked around her, seeing only vague shapes. She looked to her side where she thought she saw a figure of a short boy smiling at him. What she saw was indeed a boy that was very close to him. The boy was standing there, with blonde hair and a blue forehead protector and a ridiculous orange jumpsuit. She looked down at him as a tear trickled down her face.

"Are those tears another one, Haruno?"

The voice seemed familiar to her, but she felt that hallucination was actually catching up to her, considering her deceiving surroundings. She finally lost it when the voice spoke again, "Quite deceiving and convincing, just like your sweet face, but a scornful one in reality."

She turned and looked at the boy who as, for some reason, growing taller until she noticed that it was growing taller than her... and farther from her. She reached for his shoulder, and then he shrugged it off. One thing she noticed was that he wasn't moving away... she was.

She came out of her trance and found herself lying on the ground with her face splattered with mud. She pushed her hands against the ground, trying her best to stand. She noticed that it was truly raining, and that the wind was strong, and that it was foggy. She began to think that it wasn't a dream. She looked around for her comrades.

_'I will never travel alone again. I don't want to see that, ever again...'_

"Why is that, Haruno-san? Guilt trips you now?"

She turned her attention to the tree on the other side of the tree she leaned onto. She looked at him closer and realized who he was looking at.

"N..." a tear trickled down her face, "Naruto... What are you..?"

"A demon, that's what I am," he spoke calmly, as if he was used to this.

"I've been wanting to tell you something since before, Sakura," he paused, torturing Sakura even more, "Do you want to know why I stayed at Konoha? Do you wanna know why I've been willing to retrieve Sasuke from Orochimaru?"

_'Because you wanted to fulfil your promise and you think of Sasuke as your brother. Because you wanted to make Sasuke return and not become evil. You removed the curse seal. Obviously, that's the reason, right?' _Sakura thought. Behind Naruto's growing grin was a sinister smirk.

"It's not for Konoha, or the teme, especially not for you," he paused again to emotionally kill Sakura, "It's for me! For my own good! And you wanna know what, I'm gonna die soon, so be happy. You might never see me again."

Naruto was lying. He wanted his existence to be erased. He wanted the memory of him to be erased from everyone else, because he is erasing his memory of everyone else.

"Naruto...kun..."

Naruto jumped off the tree and ran towards her. Sakura just stood there, waiting for Naruto to hug her. What happened next seemed too unreal to Sakura.

As Naruto ran towards her, he began reaching for something beneath his cloak. As he went past her, he whispered, "He gonna come, so don't worry too much," and a grin became visible on the corner of her eye.

She fell to the ground with her trying to exert all the remaining energy she had left to turn her face and look to where Naruto was. She screeched in pain and soon rested her head. All she saw was Naruto crouched on the ground, tucking in a bloody dagger into his cloak and standing up before completely closing her eyes, seeing Naruto's happy grin turn into a sad and angered look and, finally, feeling dead.

"Sakura! Sakura, wake up!" was the voice she heard next. _'Naruto..?' _She opened her eyes to see a black-haired boy in a blue and white jacket and black ninja pants in front of her.

"I gotta take you to Konoha! Hold on!"

He carried her up and put her on his back, running all the way back to Konoha.

"The others met up with me, asking if you were with me. I cam looking for you, and I sent them back to the village. We're too late, Sakura... We can't bring him back now."

For that while, Sakura hoped it was Naruto saying that he had lost hope taking Sasuke back. She would have felt better. She wouldn't have realized how much the truth hurt.

--

What a long chapter for a comeback!

--

Peace out to you, people… By now you would have noticed many errors in this fanfic of mine, and I know it's causing me to lose readers and such. (Besides, I kind of worked on some of them now. Please honestly tell me if I have more errors) First off, I've been out of my 'zone' lately. My inspired side drifted off and stuff, especially since I only received two reviews last time… THEN I wasn't able to update after all this time because of my tight school schedule (and considering that I am currently having my vacation in Philippines, too busy having coughfuncough). And I have recently stopped reading fanfics which is another thing that gives me inspiration. I MIGHT update after this chapter if I get satisfied with the results. Anyway, REVIEW and vote in my poll…

Oh, and yeah… I've read the next manga chapters and noticed that it is quite far from my fanfic. If you hate fanfics that doesn't follow the story flow (non-canon, in short) then don't read. Flame, if you must. I will appreciate it, too. I will follow Itachi's reason of killing the Uchiha, and Sasuke will find out in the latter part of my fic, but he will not destroy Konoha and go on with his team Eagle (check it out in or (:D)) Anyway, this is my first ever VERY VERY VERY VERY SHORT battle scene, so please comment, and teach me if I need some improvements. I only wrote this just to test my battle sense thingy. It's okay if you wanna say it sucked, I think so, too..! Anyway, THANKS!!


	9. The Last Resort Risked for

**The Last Resort to Risk for**

"Naruto-san," Itachi did not want to interrupt, but Zetsu was already rising from the ground, "Please do not kill these new recruits before I tell you what I have to say."

Naruto let go of his grip, the neck of the boy finally returning to its normal color. He stood up, followed by the red-haired teen who attempted to stab Naruto with a kunai, but ended up having a twisted arm. "Itachi, I hope this is worthwhile, you know I do not like being interrupted."

"As do I," he shot a look at Zetsu and Kisame who returned a mischievous grin, "Anyway, your friends have successfully urged your little friends to withdraw their search. Apparently, your encounter with little Haruno was a good part of the mission, having my brother take her back to the village is good as well. Everything worked according to plan."

Naruto closed his eyes and spoke without looking at Itachi, "Call Kazi, Itachi-san. By the time you guys return," he turned and looked at his heavily breathing opponent, "I am probably done with my work here."

--

_He was on the top of the Fourth's head, sitting with ramen in his hand. He looked at him and grinned, raised his hand to wave at him and began to run down to him. He smiled. What a sight to see, he thought._

_As he drew closer, his eye caught a kunai in Naruto's bleeding hand. Whoa, shit. Shikamaru walked back, avoiding Naruto. When he finally stopped, he stopped as well. Shikamaru felt like he was under his own kage mane. 'Give it up, fool,' Naruto said as he walked closer to the frozen Shikamaru._

_Naruto raised his hand and looked Shikamaru in the eye. 'It ends here, smarty," he prepared to throw he kunai, and Shikamaru closed his eyes, an excuse to support his thought of avoiding eye contact, waiting for death to strike at him._

_It didn't. He opened his eyes to see the same old dopey Naruto who was wearing the wide grin he missed very much. He looked down to see a kunai in his hand, stuck to his chest. He looked even lower to see an extended shadow branching from Naruto's shadow to Shikamaru's. He WAS stuck with his own kage mane. Has Shikamaru just killed… their Gyoku?_

He sat up, grasping for air. He wiped off his sweat and looked to the window. _Don't worry, Asuma, I won't fail you._

--  


"Hey, Shikamaru!"

He looked back in time to see Ino catching up to him.

"Ino-san…"

"Where are you headed to? It's kind of our day off…"

"Exactly that," Shikamaru didn't feel like being talkative today. It was too… troublesome… for him. Ino was getting impatient, so she decided to talk and talk until Shikamaru gets interest to finally talk back more, "Oh, I get it, you're going to the hospital to see Kurenai and Sakura, eh?"

Shikamaru looked up at the sky, pocketing his hands, "I thought of asking Sakura. She claimed that she saw Naruto back in the forest, but she felt that half of it was her hallucination. We concluded that not all of it was a hallucination, based on Sakura's condition. Anyway, whatever she was trying to say would help in our search."

"Shika, Godaime-sama told us to stop-," Shikamaru cut her off, "And what!? You want me to stand around all day and wait for Naruto to come back, or watch the council plan his death? Did you actually believe that the Godaime meant that?"

Ino stared at him with a solemn face, "Sorry, Shikamaru, I got caught up with what Godaime and Sakura were talking about earlier."

Finally, Ino has caught Shikamaru's attention.

**(This is gonna be a long, boring part, but read on if you want to get the next parts :D)**

"Remember that necklace Naruto always wears. It was actually from the Godaime. He… he left it with Sakura. Sakura DID see Naruto, and he DID intentionally attack her severely, but he meant to not kill him. Naruto brought back a message to Konoha.

"Remember Jiraiya's message before, the one with the Katakana and such, he decided to make it something… similar. Tsunade was able to interpret it the very moment she saw it," Ino looked at Shikamaru to check if he was listening. She was pleased, and continued, "It was a message that only the Fourth was able to give out.

"It wasn't exactly a written message or whatever, and we weren't certain if Naruto meant to do it intentionally. The real message was nothing for Sakura's sake, as well.

"When Naruto struck at Sakura with a sword, he intentionally dropped the necklace to Sakura's clenching hands. With the necklace was a tag. It was something to strike fear to all of us, I think," she sighed, rethinking if this was the right thing to say.

"It was a death seal that can cause the death of the person stuck with the seal if it wasn't removed after a day. I think he was trying to say that if he wasn't afraid to risk killing the person he cares for the most (of course, that's what Tsunade and I were saying), he wouldn't mind killing the village he cares for as well, the very village that treated him so badly, too.

"The message which Tsunade thought was unintentional was, like I just said, only made by the Fourth, at least, until recently wherein Naruto was able to make the sign. I really didn't get what Tsunade-sama was trying to say, and she slowly breaking into tears back then. All I understood was the skill trademark of the Fourth always leaves a weird mark, a scratch of some sort. Sasuke was able to illustrate the image to Tsunade-sama as a bright scratch cutting through the ground where he saw Naruto disappear… in a flash of light."

"Wait… Bright? You mean the scratch was lighting up?"

"Only for the time it was fresh."

"Any other?"

"Yeah… Sakura and Sasuke can't get his last words off their minds," she hesitated with a deep sigh, closed her eyes and added, "'This is the way it was meant to be, Sakura. Konoha wouldn't crave, so I guess I had to make them. It was time.' Sasuke arrived early enough to hear it. As soon as he said that and Sasuke jumped at him, Naruto disappeared."

_Time... Was this 'time' enough to make such a loving person so evil in a flash?_

**Hey guys.. Man, I missed you guys! I would like to thank the people who are still reading this fanfic of mine. I really appreciate the comments and reviews! For those helping me with my mistakes, thank you! For those praising me, thank you, too! I hope you appreciate this chapter. The next chapter might come now, tomorrow ar next week. Either way, I hope you tune in and review! Thanks again!**

(Actually, I have a question directed to an anonymous reader who signed as vfsa saying "DO the hARMEN".. Did you mean 'harem'? Thanks again! Ooh, and I am taking requests again on my OCs mania C2... Thanks! R & R!)


	10. Undefined Strength

**I would like to point out certain things before I proceed. First off, Naruto learned more about his wind element. Next, Asuma and Jiraiya DID die. Everything else in the manga happened, except for the part where Itachi dies and Sasuke gets revenge. Yeah, sure, they fight. They both collapse, Madara/Tobi gets Sasuke and explains, BUT Sasuke DOES NOT get revenge. I will be giving Naruto a water element, and if ever he will be given another one, it's his as well! That would make him have two to three elements. Naruto will also be trained by the frog grandpa, Fukasaku.. :D By the way, if you do not like OCs, might as well leave..! Oh… and this will later become a dark fic… (snickersnicker)**

**Tsk, tsk.. Very disappointing last chapter… NO REVIEWS, NO EARLY UPDATE… I wanted to make that little part clear… :P… My supporters and subscribers didn't even bother reading or even visiting the page… sniff, sniff… Only ONE person visited… sigh… Anyway, the timing was perfect; our exams were up back then, then I had to study for the next exam the next week!**

**Here is the chapter I have been itching to post for two weeks now…**

**Undefined Strength**

"Shit!"

"What was that? This is not a game, opponent-san! Get serious and, at least, try!" Naruto bent his legs and gripped his knees with his two hands, currently covered with blades and thorns. Under his unheard breath, he cursed with much pain as his knees began bleeding.

_'What a good training technique. Get used to the pain, pain yourself with obstacles, never fight with the help of your abomination and get used to being strong with only a small portion of your true power. Once fully released, you never know what to expect,' _the red-streak- haired teen thought as he gazed upon the seal on his right arm.

"Kazi, focus! We better hurry or Naruto-san might kill Raizo and Teida before we even get started with them!" Itachi shouted at a random trunk. Kazi rolled his eyes, whispering to Kaiten who was beside him, "And the blind-teme chronicles continue," which Kaiten replied to with silly nods and a huge smile.

"Who's Raizo and Teida, Itachi-san?" the squirrel on Kaiten's shoulder asked. Itachi was disturbed by the very thought that the squirrel was talking, but proceeded, "Raizo is our new recruit. Teida has been a very loyal Akatsuki trainee ever since he was a mere child, though he lacks the fighting enthusiasm that Naruto can easily fill in for, and soon solve."

"Ugh, fighting doesn't need enthusiasm, it needs the aggressiveness and—," Itachi was getting tired of Kaiten's scowling emo (but not) attitude, so he interrupted by gripping his shoulder with a cold hand, "Uruze, Kaiten-san. What I mean by enthusiasm is quite different from the literal meaning. I do not mean 'enjoying' it. I simply mean… enjoying its purpose, either individually or personally, or based on order. It's on your view. Naruto's enthusiasm… is essential to us indirectly."

Kaiten felt too cold to reply. Itachi might be growing blind, but the poison that almost overpowered his body and power was no longer in effect. But other than Naruto and his opponent, there was only one thing on his mind, _'Let's just hope that Pein would not interfere with Sasuke's mission.'_

--

"Temes aren't welcome in the village!"

"Yeah!"

"They're not!"

"Yeah!"

"Get out of here!"

"Yeah!"

"You're useless!"

"Yeah!"

Konohamaru was doing a one-man rally against Sasuke who has just walked past Konohamaru's house, apparently coming from the gate carrying a sack that was as big as he was. It was moving, and this intrigued Konohamaru so much more than the fact that Rookie Nine was to preoccupied with Naruto's absence, thinking that Naruto just happens to go for ramen and happen to be missed by everyone else.

"Kage bunshin!" Konohamaru has just made another clone to use against the annoyed Sasuke.

"Why… won't… you…" Konohamaru's clones were sweating and breathing heavily, "Give up!"

"You give up, dork! I'm not…"

Before Sasuke could make a move, the sack was somehow snatched away from his tight grasp. He and Konohamaru turned around to see an orange-haired man with nails on his nose crouched on a rooftop, ready to leave. "You shouldn't have left, Sasuke. You should have stayed. We would have made such a great team."

"I will never…"

Sasuke never seems to be able to finish his defensive sentences these days, as Shikamaru walked towards Sasuke with closed eyes.

"Is that you on the roof, Sasuke? I didn't know you had that kind of high chakra signature?"

"It's not me! The hell, open your eyes!"

Shikamaru opened his eyes just in time to see Pein leaving. That is, until another cloaked figure jumped at him, crashing him down the arc of the gate.

"Okay, but, Sasuke, before the tension grows and I have no time to ask," he paused as bits of rocks fell to the ground beside them, "Are you sure what you told Tsunade-sama and the others were true, the part where Naruto said that last resort part, at least."

Sasuke suddenly remembered what Akatsuki told him to do. _Make them fear Naruto in a way they will hesitate fearing him. Think of the irony. They will fear him, but they will be unsure. Do not give them a clue to reassure them that trusting Naruto is worth it, or that he is still the same, nor reassure them that he is dangerous. _He was going to do just that. Sasuke knows the truth, reality, and what must me done.

"Of course, you don't believe me?"

"I… I don't really think I want to."

It wasn't long that the two looked back up to see the tension gone. The two strangers were a meter apart, talking. Sasuke, and secretly Shikamaru, was able to hear.

"We're doing this, Pein! There's no taking it back!"

"What, why pull him into this!?"

"Shut up, Pein! You may be the leader, but us members have insights of what can improve him! I'm sorry! Kuzein!"

That was it. That was Sasuke's cue for charging. He jumped up and grabbed the sack, "He's mine!"

"Shit! Give him back!"

This may be pretend, but Sasuke and Naruto were convincing enough to Shikamaru and Konohamaru. Pein, on the other hand, was reluctant. He was standing in place, clenching his fists. "I won't leave unless YOU leave."

"Leave, kid," he jumped down the arc and another figure appeared beside Pein, "I'm endless, Pein. Look around. I really mean LOOK…" Pein looked around and observed the surroundings, seeing millions of Narutos around. "Wtf…" was all he was able to say as the first Naruto he talked to walked away, hand in pocket, waving without turning around. _That's why his chakra signature was lower than usual.._

One figure was already running towards Sasuke, with Shikamaru and Konohamaru running after him. "Konohamaru, leave! These are not for you! Hey, Konohamaru!"

He was too late, for Konohamaru was going to full speed and was already running towards Naruto, "Bad guy, mate (mate.. as in wait)!"

"Idiot," Shikamaru muttered under his breath, "Just like the jumpy Naruto. Where the hell is that guy...?"

--

"Then where are you?" Pein asked. Naruto grinned as a kunai jumped over his head which he kicked up in the air and maneuvered back towards his own opponent.

'I'm at HQ, battling the new kids along with Gaara,' Naruto's clone was able to project this original's thoughts into words to Pein. Pein thought for a while and suddenly spoke, "I know that whatever you're planning for Zein is for his own good, and I hope you are right. I don't want to leave him here and let him be raised as good as you, Naruto. It will be harder to convince him to leave."

'Why do you think we put Sasuke on our side?' he saw Pein smile and say, "I'm leaving, so get killed now," and left Naruto's clone with a wink, as if saying 'Do a good job pretending.'

Naruto continued to chase after Sasuke and went as far as running beside him and kicking Konohamaru unintentionally, mainly because of the pressure he exerted in running. "Clone?" Sasuke said in English (I know! Wtf! But still…). Naruto nodded and was stabbed by Sasuke with kunai. He chose to disappear with a poof of a cloud.

"Shit, I didn't kill him! He escaped!"

Shikamaru began to slow down and walked up to him, "I don't think he was even here… The chakra signature was indeed firm and powerful, but compared to its original, it was probably compressed to its minimal power. Whoever that guy was is definitely strong, that's all I can say."

Sasuke loosened his grip of the sack and lowered him onto the ground.

"Sasuke… What IS that?" Shikamru asked, briefly pointing at the sack, and took out a piece of cigarette from his pocket.

Sasuke apparently ignored the question and took the bag over his shoulder, walking towards the Hokage's tower, "Yeah, and if I tell you, I might as well tell the squirt over here."

"I'm up to it," Konohamaru proudly stated as he took a large step to be able to squeeze into the space between Sasuke and Shikamaru. Sasuke looked down at him and calmly said, "I think you look a little DOWN," with a humorous emphasize on the word 'down'. Konohamaru frowned annoyingly, pulled his sleeves up and moved towards the calm, smiling Sasuke, "Why I otta—"

"While you 'otta' all you want," Sasuke said as he reached forward to hold Konohamaru's forehead, halting him, "I gotta go." Sasuke jumped off the ground and ran over roofs, headed for his destination.

_I wish I actually knew what you were going for, Naruto. You weren't the dobe you used to be. Who are you now? What are you REALLY planning?_

**Well, that's it. I hope it can be considered long… anyway, review! NOW! You see that thingy below!? Press the arrow, choose submit review, press GO then type, then… submit… I think. I would like to repeat my saying:**

**NO REVIEWS, NO fast UPDATE**


	11. Naruto's Body Improvement

Hey, guys. I decided to post this now to prevent questions of confusion in the future, and to repay you for the days I wasn't able to update. Anywhoo… this chapter is to explain Naruto's plans with his current comrades, and Akatsuki's latest big projects. This little part will also show his meeting with Orochimaru (as written in my summary).

Oh, and, I don't think your review was negative, LadyHokageTsunade. I respect people's point of views and opinions. For that 'Sakura making it up for Naruto part' I'm not so sure about my plans for that yet, though. So don't worry! :D just saying

Well, here goes!

**Akatsuki Improvements**

"Naruto, Gaara!" Itachi jumped down in front of Teida, looking at the unconscious Raizo on Kisame's shoulder.

"They DO need training," Naruto said as he stood up from his relaxed position on a rock.

"Yes, they do need training against you!" Itachi helped Teida up and walked towards Raizo while supporting the limping Teida. He raised his free hand to touch Raizo's wide forehead. He pushed back the hair and examined the closed eyes. He opened one and activated his Mangekyou. Immediately, the boy sat up, breathing hardly (please comment about this; I always forget the right term I usually use!!).

"I will be sending Raizo back to a friend of mine, he has better chances of surviving there while training than here," he whispered something to Kisame, who nodded and jumped off, disappearing in the trees.

"And as for you, Teida," Itachi puts a hand on his shoulder, looking at him, "You have been loyal to the Akatsuki as a trainee and to me as a student should be to a sensei. Now, I am ready to say that you are now a member of the Akatsuki. I cannot be considered your official partner, because you will have is… Gaara," Teida was smiling, but he asked, "Wait, if Gaara-san's my partner, who is Naruto-san's partner?"

Naruto ran swiftly towards Teida, standing beside him, and then said, "I plan on working solo for now. I don't intend on having partners… or should I say distractions."

Teida turned his head sideward, looking at the blond with a scratched hitaiate around his forehead. He shrugged off all his questions about his fellow Akatsuki member, and decided to rejoice silently about his success.

--

Naruto hissed in pain as a sharp weapon touched the side of his ear, forming a deep cut.

"This is what we call a sharp weapon, Naruto-san, that, on the other hand," Orochimaru jerked his head to point out the kunai Naruto was holding against Orochimaru's chest, "can be considered a weak and desperate attempt at an unattainable goal."

Naruto snickered and spoke in a somehow deep voice, "And this is what you call a trump card that an idiot can neither see nor feel."

He pressed his 'trump card' against Orochimaru's neck, dark blood trickling down his neck. Orochimaru frowned, hissing loudly with the additional pain Naruto's exerted chakra caused. Naruto backed away, causing Orochimaru to fall in sudden shock.

"I have a question, Orochimaru. Do you think you can put a seal on me? The same one you put one Sasuke-teme…"

Orochimaru, in his pained pose, with his head looking down, half-bowing, he smiled at the boy's question.

--

Sakura was walking in the village, taking the patrol mission with Ino, when they saw Hinata supporting the weak Neji. Ino and Sakura instinctively stopped walking to look at the two, and was able to take a closer look when they stopped in front of them.

"Ah, Sakura-chan! Ino-san! I was just taking Neji for a walk. He probably needs it."

Both look at Neji as he looked up, in pain. He smiled meekly as the two stare at the boy's forehead, without the forehead protector. "The… the sign…" Sakura muttered as she slowly raised her hand to point at the forehead.

"Naruto…" Hinata whispered. Sakura, followed by Ino, looked at her in question, "What about Naruto?"

"B…Before he went missing, he apparently talked to my father… He was… able to convince him to remove the seals from the branch family's… foreheads… Naruto specifically wanted Neji to be the first…"

"Naruto…kun…"

--

Naruto was in his dark bedroom, trying to relax as much as he wanted to. So far, all his relaxing caused even more pain as his the seals in his body seem to fight for attention, especially the two newly added seals on his neck and shoulder. The pain was making Naruto hiss… and he hated it. He hates hissing as much as he hated the guy that just bit him, and the four-eyed medic ninja who put a limitation seal on him!

He knew it wasn't right. It wasn't normal… but he HAD to do it. He risked all of this… Just to have a new life… for his kind.

**FLASHBACKS**

_Everything was so twisted. His mind was blurry, although it wouldn't be if he even tried clearing up. He needed a time on his own. He needed to be far…far away from his troubles. That was all he wanted for now… peace._

_He ran as far as his feet could get him. Then it started raining. He lost it. He was breaking up. He fell to the ground, on all fours. Sooner or later, he knew he would become Kyuubi, but he didn't care. It might even be better if he died instead. Just this once, Naruto wanted Kyuubi to stop healing him._

_His vision was being clouded with a moist feeling. Water… from the rain… and probably tears, too. His face dropped to the ground. His eyes fixed upon two pairs of feet. He hated the fact that someone just might save him._

"_Nande… You know how much I hate having this runt around. He shouts a lot…" a complaining familiar voice said._

"_Kisame, stop whining and follow. Carry him and follow back," the last voice he heard apparently came from the one who jumped off the ground. Kisame lifted him up and put him over his shoulder. He didn't care. He didn't fight back. He wanted them to extract Kyuubi and kill him. He was happy… and he blacked out._

_--_

"_When do you think he will wake up? He's already been a pain on my shoulder for two hours! Don't tell me I'll have to carry him to his room too and bring him back here tomorrow!?"_

"_There's no need," Naruto sat up, half-expecting to be stabbed, "You can kill me now, y'know."_

"_Who says we're going to kill you? I actually think you'd beat us to it…"_

'_That voice…' Naruto thought. He looked around to see a black robed man with long hair. "Itachi… I should have known."_

"_Besides, Naruto, you have more use to us than the destructive Kyuubi alone. We… have a proposition to make…"_

"_Talk… before I change my mind."_

"_We're giving you the chance… to save Sasuke," Itachi said, bluntly and simply. This caught Naruto's attention. He looked up with a look of shock on his face. His eyebrows later met, "What's in it for you?"_

"_Smart… Anyway… I know you're probably thinking something like 'Give us the Kyuubi' or whatever—"_

"_Actually, I'm guessing you want me to join your ranks," he spoke silently, yet enough to be heard in a quiet cavern. The two missing nins looked at each other. Naruto, seeing this, knew he was right. He stood up, speaking, "And what makes you think I would agree? I know you would kill me someday, too. Being in a group og missing nins… doesn't that give the feeling of possible betrayal?"_

"_Naruto, if we were a group of people betraying each other, do you not think even the partners betray each other. Meaning… we would all be dead, most likely. Think about it," he was calm. Somehow, Naruto felt that he could trust these guys, even after all they have done. He thought about it._

_After a while of silence, he spoke up, "What's up with Sasuke-teme, teme?"_

_Itachi smiled, then said, "Teme, he's asking you!" he nudged Kisame with his elbow. Kisame and Naruto chuckled. "No, noe, go ahead, Itachi-san."_

"_I fought Sasuke about a week ago. He is recovering, and will awake anytime today. Two things may happen today. He may wake up and escape… or you may fight him, awaken him with the truth, remove his seal, and maybe even him his Mangekyou…"_

_Naruto walked past them and spit on the ground beside him. He put his hand on the wooden door in front of him, ready to push it. "This is where he is, right?"_

_That sealed everything…_

_**END FLASHBACK**_

**FLASHBACK 2**

"_You are making the right choice, Naruto… coming here willingly for this," the crowd surrounding him smiled. The one with orange hair, above his head, spoke, "Don't worry, Naruto… this won't hurt a bit… at least, not as much as what we did to other Jinchuurikis."_

_Naruto immediately sat up, and shouted, "Whoa, whoa, whoa! Explain to me first! Each of the seals you intend on putting on me!"_

_Everything was fast, so was there talking. Pein spoke first, while cracking his knuckles, "Of course we will be keeping your Kyuubi's seal. Anyway, we will be putting two special seals in your body. Your body is perfect for the requirements of these."_

_Itachi followed as he moved around, the very spacious room, "We saw one seal in your body… it is still in its early form, meaning it is still in its improvement process. So we decided to put six seals in your body that limits the corresponding seals' capability to help you and compresses your chakra."_

"_I will be honored to enumerate," Kisame began, "Three seals are meant to compress your Bijuu's powers," he paused. 'Three?' Naruto thought and later listened as Kisame continues, "One seal will compress your OWN chakra and another seal to compress and limit the power one of the special seals Pein mentioned will provide. Oh, and the last compression seal will compress all of the chakra you hold, even limiting the chakra provider seals, which will be all over your body."_

"_What's the main purpose of this!? This all seems like nonsense! It's like something that can be used to stall me!"_

"_Not really… You're a sage, right?" Naruto nodded and listened to Itachi's explanation, "Imagine if we continue sealing your chakra. You practice and end up strong. Then, imagine the day when we release it. How strong do you think you would be?"_

_Naruto looked up at the dark ceiling. He smiled._

"_A last addition, Naruto-kun," Pein looked down at the happy boy who relaxed by lying down on the pile of rocks, later becoming uncomfortable, "We've been working on a little project for quite a while now… It's very special, and we want you to be the first to have it."_

"_What's that supposed to be?"_

"_Breeding Bijuus… and manipulating some of the bred bijous, too…" Naruto's eyes widened! He didn't think it was possible. Pein continued, "We originally planned putting the bijous into other people, but this idea was better. As the bijuus breed many, we experiment on some. They're all still children, but strong enough. We manipulate the others, transforming them into other forms, like snakes, etcetera. We decided to put the eight...," he sighed, as if somehow embarrassed, "eyed wolf into you." Everyone in the room chuckled, except Itachi and Pein, who were both at fault as both were experimenting._

"_Well, what're you waiting for!? I'm set if you are!"_

**Well, it sucks, I know. I rushed it. But anyway, review!! PLEASE!!**


	12. Just Like Me

**Hey, guys! Uhh… I decided to post another chappie up.. Oh, and… uhmm… Kuragayi Rya… please review about why you're confused. I'd LOVE to explain! Me out! Chappie in!**

**Just like me**

Naruto sighed as he enlarged the Rasengan in his hand. He was bored and he can't do anything about it. There was no one who can train him, no one to train with. Everyone was out on their own missions, except him. He had nothing to do, and yet he could not focus enough to think of a good story for when it was time to go back. He was frustrated with thinking, until…

"Naruto, you have a mission…"

--

'I have an escapee problem…'

Naruto jumped off the elevated stump on the ground, onto a branch by a huge tree. He knelt on one knee, leaned onto the trunk. He murmured under his breath for quite a while, then closed his eyes. "I gotta ask Itachi about that easier way he was talking about. He opened his eyes. He felt control over his black eyes, zooming into a foggy part of the forest. His eyes slanted, wanting more detail. He saw a head, turning around once in a while.

'_I am entrusting the problem to you…'_

He moved closer towards it, deactivating the eye technique. He remembered how the special seal was important to him. It gave him the ability to use bloodline techniques which are not his, and other possible made-up jutsus. The other special 'master' seal on him, allowed him to use powerful forbidden, kage techniques. He was even able to do the techniques that were said to be available only to Orochimaru, and even the first Hokage (and Yamato).

'_At first, we planned on just letting the guy out. Once outside… we, no… he lost control. Simply take him captive and bring him back here. You'll know who he is without seeing his face.'_

He jumped down to the ground, landing on a hand and a kneeling knee. He looked up, his somehow long bangs covering his eyes. He shook his head, irritated at the heavy forehead protector around his neck.

'_How do I identify him if I don't see his face?'_

'_What an idiotic question, Naruto! I just thought you how to identify a person with their Chakra signature, and blood flow through senses and the air!'_

'_Oh, right…'_

'Anyway… you will easily feel the leaking uncontrolled chakra… And you will see overwhelming blood seeping through his clothes, specifically concentrated…'

He closed his eyes, and smiled.

'…on the chest.'

He disappeared in a yellow flash…

…And reappeared in front of a certain bleeding boy. He looked at the boy in general. He sensed the boy's excited chakra. He stared at the boy's innocent eyes. No sooner did his eyes wander, restlessness giving way. The boy was obviously losing control of himself. He seemed to not know what he has been doing. He pushed Naruto aside with powerful chakra, but not powerful enough to harm him. Naruto was not really moved but decided to step aside.

Naruto walked after the running boy with closed eyes and once again disappeared to reappear in front of the boy. "Kinjo, right?" the boy seemed to ignore Naruto as he rapidly kept looking around. He constantly licked his lips, his eyes enlarging as well. Naruto knew how it felt to be like a monster. _'Itachi…'_

Naruto was trying to communicate with Itachi with his new bloodline technique. He was able to connect with Itachi through Itachi's sharingan.

'_Naruto… I am on a mission…'_

'_What happened to this kid?'_

'_He is one of our… most likely failed experiments. We put a seven-tailed bijuu into him as a mere infant… We failed. We manipulated a three-tailed bijuu and ended up with seven tails, then nine-tails. It was a failure…'_

'_You did what!?'_

'_Baka, you heard me! Besides, the reason we're bringing him back is we're going to fix him! Now cut this!'_

Naruto understood the boy's condition. He reached out towards the boy, holding his shoulder. He leveled down to him and looked at him in the eyes. He let Kyuubi's chakra leak out, causing his eyes to turn reddish. The boy stared back at him violently, which Naruto looked back with passionate eyes. The boy soon relaxed. His violence slowly turned into minor fear. His eyes slowly turned into weak eyes. The boy lost consciousness, falling onto the ground. Naruto caught him just in time.

'_He's… just like me…'_

_--_

After being able to bring the child back, they strapped him into a bed in their experimenting room. He hang around outside the room, thinking. He thought of what happened after the child fainted. Twenty Akatsuki trainees ran towards Naruto, asking what he was doing. Naruto was not wearing his uniform, so it took quite a lot of convincing. Fortunately, Teida was there. He headed the trainees in capturing the child, and was quite unsuccessful until Naruto came.

"The kid's been confined in a hidden cave here since he was born. These trainees had to be moved here along with their trainers JUST to be able to guard him," Teida explained. Teida looked more mature in his Akatsuki uniform. He seemed taller, too. "He's wild, even in his cage."

"I guess it's luck that no one actually died guarding the kid, and even more luck to be able to keep him in," Naruto said, just to have something to add to the conversation. "Yeah, you're telling me!" Teida chuckled. He frowned, looking down, "I was one of the people who almost died, though.

Naruto looked at him.

"There was a time that Kinjo tried to escape. The monster in him was growing… He was wilder than usual…"

"His… his family has no say about him being a jinchuuriki?"

"Ah, correction, Naruto-san, KINchuuriki…"

"Kin..?" Naruto asked. Teida replied, "Yes, Pein –san said he will refer to hosts of manipulated bijuus as Kinchuurikis… Anyway, no, his family does not even know. Akatsuki… took him along with his brother, Raizo."

Naruto's eyes widened, "Raizo!?"

"Yeah, that kid you beat into a pulp. That's the guy. Our comrades made it look like Raizo fought some crazy dudes who kidnapped Kinjo. Raizo was willing to join us, technically because nobody really treats him the way he wants in his village. When Raizo 'returned' without Kinjo, his family sent him away. They were even glad to do it. Then after a year, we brought him back. I was a kid back then, too. When we brought him back, after a year of training him-" Naruto cut him off with a "Whoa, whoa, whoa!" and continued, "You trained him as a baby!?"

"A kid! He was a year old!" Naruto spit on the ground, but Teida continued, "Besides, he was special. He was capable of a lot of things. He was capable of losing control as well. Anyway, since the kid was destructive, we went on with our plans. Every night, we delivered drinks to the village. They gather around in the square every night for their rituals, and they drink our deliveries. Unbeknownst to them, sleeping pills were in the mixtures, so they definitely sleep every night, no one stays guard. Then, the kid goes into destruction mode."

"Why didn't you guys just do it?"

"We help, actually. Anyway, we figured that everyone sleeps every night anyway, except some guards who usually drowse off anyway, so nothing became obvious. That's when our plan began working. They began believing that the destructions were 'bad luck'… brought by the only new person in the village… Guess who," Teida nudged Naruto's elbow, who replied in a low voice, "Kinjo…"

"Exactly!" Teida clapped, shouting. That's when it hit Naruto. It wasn't entirely like that, but almost. All he needed was a bit of idea manipulation, and he got it. His plan was perfect! Now he has a story for when he returns to Konoha…

'_Konoha... Crazed 'ol bitches…' _**(lol, I think this is my first curse/swear word here hahaha)**

**I know, I know, so far my made-up Japanese names all suck! So review, it might help! :P**


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